Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes using compressed air can also transport solid capsules .

As for gases and liquids, any chemically stable substance can be sent through a pipeline. Therefore sewage, slurry, water, or even beer pipelines exist; but arguably the most valuable are those transporting crude petroleum and refined petroleum product including fuels: oil (oleoduct), natural gas (gas grid), and biofuels.

Dmitri Mendeleev first suggested using a pipe for transporting petroleum in 1863.

There is some argument as to when the first crude oil pipeline was built. However, some^[who?] say pipeline transport was pioneered by Vladimir Shukhov and the Branobel company in the late 19th century. Others^[who?] say oil pipelines originated when the Oil Transport Association first constructed a 2-inch (51 mm) wrought iron pipeline over a 6-mile (9.7 km) track from an oil field in Pennsylvania to a railroad station in Oil Creek, in the 1860s. Pipelines are generally the most economical way to transport large quantities of oil, refined oil products or natural gas over land. Compared to shipping by railroad, they have lower cost per unit and higher capacity. Although pipelines can be built under the sea, that process is economically and technically demanding, so the majority of oil at sea is transported by tanker ships.